Each month, San Rafael artist Wendy Goldpainstakingly scours the Alameda Flea Market in search of vintage globes and wall maps for ImagineNations, the map-art studio she launched in 2010. Inspired by the decoupage mastery of John Derian, Gold layers old globes and maps with color-rich decorative elements, such as luggage labels, inspirational bons mots, and even the shaggy monsters from Where the Wild Things Are. The canvas map seen here, digitally emblazoned with a retro-stripe path, is titled after a line of poetry by J.R.R. Tolkien—“Not all those who wander are lost”—and embodies Gold’s wayfaring ethos. “What I love about old maps,” says Gold, 41, whose professional career began with custom collages on toilet seats, “is that they remind us of our place in the world: how far we’ve come and where we want to go.”
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This article was published in 7x7's October 2014 issue. Click here to subscribe.